Sep 2, 2024 01:11 AM
Behavioral science needs to return to the basics
https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/beh...rinciples/
EXCERPTS: Over the past decade behavioral science, particularly psychology, has come under fire from critics for being fixated on progressive political ideology, most notably Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). The critics’ evidence is, unfortunately, quite strong. For example, a recent volume, Ideological and Political Bias in Psychology, recounts many incidents of scholarly censorship and personal attacks that a decade ago might have only been conceivable as satire.
We believe that many problems plaguing contemporary behavioral science, especially for issues touching upon DEI, can best be understood, at their root, as a failure to adhere to basic scientific principles. In this essay, we will address three fundamental scientific principles: (1) Prioritize Objective Data Over Lived Experience; (2) Measure Well; and (3) Distinguish Appropriately Between Correlation and Causation. We will show how DEI scholarship often violates those principles, and offer suggestions for getting behavioral science back on track. “Getting back to the basics” may not sound exciting but, as athletes, musicians, and other performers have long recognized, reinforcing the fundamentals is often the best way to eliminate bad habits in order to then move forward.
The Failure to Adhere to Basic Scientific Principles
COVERED:
Principle #1: Prioritize Objective Data Over Lived Experience
Principle #2: Measure Well
Principle #3: Distinguish Appropriately Between Correlation and Causation
DEI Concepts Contradict Known Findings about Human Cognition. The empirical bases for some DEI concepts contradict social scientific principles. Additionally, certain DEI ideas run counter to important findings about human nature that scientists have established by following the required scientific principles. We discuss three examples below.
COVERED:
Out-Group Antipathy
Expectancies
Cognitive Biases
[...] What Happened? Some Possible Causes
[...] One possible reason is myside bias, wherein individuals process information in a way that favors their own “team.”
MORE - missing details
https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/beh...rinciples/
EXCERPTS: Over the past decade behavioral science, particularly psychology, has come under fire from critics for being fixated on progressive political ideology, most notably Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). The critics’ evidence is, unfortunately, quite strong. For example, a recent volume, Ideological and Political Bias in Psychology, recounts many incidents of scholarly censorship and personal attacks that a decade ago might have only been conceivable as satire.
We believe that many problems plaguing contemporary behavioral science, especially for issues touching upon DEI, can best be understood, at their root, as a failure to adhere to basic scientific principles. In this essay, we will address three fundamental scientific principles: (1) Prioritize Objective Data Over Lived Experience; (2) Measure Well; and (3) Distinguish Appropriately Between Correlation and Causation. We will show how DEI scholarship often violates those principles, and offer suggestions for getting behavioral science back on track. “Getting back to the basics” may not sound exciting but, as athletes, musicians, and other performers have long recognized, reinforcing the fundamentals is often the best way to eliminate bad habits in order to then move forward.
The Failure to Adhere to Basic Scientific Principles
COVERED:
Principle #1: Prioritize Objective Data Over Lived Experience
Principle #2: Measure Well
Principle #3: Distinguish Appropriately Between Correlation and Causation
DEI Concepts Contradict Known Findings about Human Cognition. The empirical bases for some DEI concepts contradict social scientific principles. Additionally, certain DEI ideas run counter to important findings about human nature that scientists have established by following the required scientific principles. We discuss three examples below.
COVERED:
Out-Group Antipathy
Expectancies
Cognitive Biases
[...] What Happened? Some Possible Causes
[...] One possible reason is myside bias, wherein individuals process information in a way that favors their own “team.”
MORE - missing details